Runaway binding assembly for skis

ABSTRACT

A runaway binding assembly for skis comprising an elongated member, having opposing ends and means for connecting one end of said elongated member to a ski with the member in a desired normal position, said member being resiliently deformable in a plurality of directions from said normal position; and a locking member for releasably locking the other end of the elongated member therein. The locking member is securable to a skier such as, for example, by being directly attached to a ski boot or by being bound about such boot or the skier&#39;&#39;s leg.

United States Patent [191 Zimmet 1 51 Mar. 12, 1974 1 RUNAWAY BINDING ASSEMBLY FOR SKIS [76] Inventor: Arthur L. Zimmet, 73-12 35th Ave.,

Jackson Heights, NY. 11372 [22] Filed: Feb. 16, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 226,735

2 us. Cl 2250/1135 N 51 int. Cl. 'A63c 9/00 58 Field 0i Search..280/11.35 N; 343/900, 915 A [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,452,999 7/1969 Salomon .Q. 280/11.35 N 3,549,163 12/1970 Wiedermann.. 280/11.35 N 2,793,869

5/1957 Braun 280/1 1.35 N

Primary Examiner-Robert R. Song Attorney, Agent, or Firm Hubbell, Cohen & Stiefel 571 ABSTRACT A runaway binding assembly for skis comprising an elongated member, having opposing ends and means for connecting one end of said elongated member to a ski with the member in a desired normal position, said member being resiliently deformable in a plurality of directions from said normal position; and a locking member for releasably locking the other end of the elongated member therein. The locking member is securableto a skier such as, for example, by being directly attached to a ski boot or by being bound about such boot or the skiers leg.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures RUNAWAY BINDING ASSEMBLY FOR SKIS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I 'clude a safety release binding which rigidly holds the boot to the ski, but which permits disengagement upon predetermined force, torque or impact levels being reached, whereby to reduce the likelihood of injury to the skier. When 'a ski becomes disengaged from a boot, it is free to slide down the hill as a dangerous missile to all in its path, unless there is a runaway binding. Thus some means for preventing the total separation of a ski from the skier should be provided in the event a ski boot is released from the main skibinding ontheski. Not only does such means prevent a loss of the ski, but it also prevents possible "injury to persons located downhill of the skier.

Numerous methods and apparatus for preventing the separation of a ski from a skier are known in the art.

Such apparatus is commonly referred to as a run away binding. The most common runaway binding makes use of a I flaccid strap, usually fabricated of leather, which is permanently mounted at one end to a portion of the main ski binding or ski and which may be wrappe d around and affixed to the ski boot at its otherend.

. This type of runaway binding has a number of drawbacks. For instance, the manner of wrapping the free end of the strap around the ski boot is a timecor'nsuming and often physically exhausting exercise. MOrespecifically, the strap, being a flaccid member, normally'lies on the ski on the ground thereby requiring the skier to bend all or substantially all the way down to the ground to pickup the strap and wrap it about his boot. As any skier will well known, the act of bending down to touch the ground is a very cumbersome and exhausting exercise when thhe skiers boot has already been locked into the main binding. Another disadvantage is that the'straps, being generally fabricated of a leather material, wear out frequently. This is caused by a number of factors, such as by becoming water-logged and then drying-out, which repeating process causes the strap to become brittle and crack. This might lead to a break in the strap which, if occurring during an unintentional release, would enable the ski to separate from the skier. Another disadvantage of a runaway strap is that it tends to get caught under the ski whereby the ski edges cut into the strap.

In an effort to devise more efficient runaway bindings, numerous methods have been employed in the past. For example, one such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,324 issued on Apr. 19, 1960 to Stimler. Stimler uses a ski leash as a runaway binding having a line at one end connected to the ski and an elastic expandable line at the other end connected to the boot, such as at one of the buckles or loops thereof. The runaway binding of Stimler has never caught on commercially because the elastic line tends to wear out in the vicinity of the leash and also requires the skier to not only reach down to the ski to attach the runaway binding to the boot, but also to reach in front of him which is a very difficult maneuver to perform when both ski boots are locked into the main ski bindings.

Yet another approach to developing a replacement for the conventional runaway strap above-described is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,999 issued on July 1, 1969 to Salomon. In FIG. 1 of Salomon, the conventional leather strap has been partially replaced by a flaccid helically wound cable having one end mounted to the heel portion of the main binding and another end affixed to a loop through which a belt may be inserted, the belt being secured around the ski boot to thereby couple the cable to the boot. Although the cable is decidedly more wear resistant than the conventional leather strap, it still is a flaccidmember which normally would be limp when not attached to the ski boot thereby still requiring the skier to bend substantially all the way down to the ground to pick up the belt and attach it to the boot.

Another attempt at providing alternatives to the conventional runaway strap can be' seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,163 issued on Dec. 22, 1970 to Wiedermann. 'Wiedermanns runaway binding is comprised of a substantially rigid member having 'oneend pivotally mounted to the heel portion of the main binding and another end including a hole therein enabling the member to be engaged in a lock carried by the boot. In one embodiment of Wiedermann (FIGS. 10-13) the rigid member is concave inshape at its upper extent and is slightly resilient in a plane parallel. to the ski edges and perpendicular. to the ski upper surface. The upper end of the rigid member is brought into engagement with the lock onthe boot by forcing down such end with the tip of the ski pole. Although this embodiment of Widermann is not subject to the wear of a conventional runaway strap assembly, it nonetheless requires a skier to bend down close to the ground to reach the rigid member to raise it for connection to the ski boot.

A more significant disadvantage of Wiedermanns device, however, arises from the rigidity thereof. More specifically, it is a stated purpose of the binding of Weidermann to prevent the ski from twisting or turning relative to the ski boot when the latter is released from the main ski binding. This is an extremely dangerous condition which any skier would well recognize. More specifically, it is essential to have completely free relative movement between the ski and ski boot when the latter is released from the former so that the skier does not break a leg. Such condition cannot be tolerated. 7

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Generally speaking, invention relates to a run-v v away binding assembly for skis comprising'an elongated resilient mernber. having opposing ends and means for securing said member to a ski in a desired normal position; said member being deformable (bendable) in a plurality of directions from said normal posi- A runaway binding assembly of this invention has a number of significant advantages over the prior art runaway bindings above-described. One main advantage is that the resilient member is normally upstanding when mounted to a ski. Thus, the skier need bend down only to a point significantly above the ground to grasp the upper end of the resilient member and then bend said member into aposition enabling the locking of the upper end of said elongated member in the locking member. He need not bend all the way down to the ground as in the prior art. This makes the binding decidedly more facile and less time consuming to connect. Further, there is no danger of the member being caught under the skies thereby causing damage to both the runaway binding and the ski edges.

In accordance with this invention, when the ski boot is released from the main ski binding in a fall or the like, the upper end of the resilient member will be maintained locked in the locking means thereby preventing the detachment of theski from the skier. Further, theski is capable of free movement relative to the ski boot in substantially'every direction since the resilient member is bendable in substantially every direction from its normally upstanding position. In other words, the resilient member is substantially omnidirectionally resilient. Of course, when the upper end of the resilient member is released from the locking mem- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a ski showing a ski boot locked onto a main binding and further showing a runaway binding assembly of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentarysectional view of one element of the runaway binding assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of two other elements of the runaway binding assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of one of the elements it to its shown in FIG. 3 taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

I FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the element of FIG. 2 shown in a different position used when the ski is transported.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a segment of a conventional ski I is shown having a conventional safety release binding comprised of a toe piece 12 and a heel piece 14. A conventional ski boot 13 isshown mounted to ski 10 in such safety binding 12-14.

In accordance with this invention, and with reference to FIG. 1, a runaway binding assembly 15 is employed to prevent the separation of ski 10 from the skier (whose leg is shown inphantom) upon release of the safety binding. Assembly 15 includes a preferably normally straight resilient member 16 (although it could be normally curved) having opposing ends 18 and 24 (FIG. 2). End 18 is secured within a mounting block 20 which preferably contains a screw 22 extending from a flat lower surface 23 thereof. Thus, block 20 may be screwed into ski 10 at a desired location.

Preferably, mounting block 20 is screwed into ski 10 at a location adjacent heel piece 14 of the main binding. So attached, member 16 will be normally upstanding from ski 10 by reason of its resiliency and its preferably normally straight configuration.

In accordance with this invention, resilient member 16 may be formed by any elongated resilient material or combination of materials having a normal configuration which is preferably substantially straight and which may be bent by a skier in any direction from its normal I straight position and yet return to such normal position when all external forces are withdrawn. The reason for this will become apparent below.

Referring to FIG. 2, the preferred embodiment of resilient member 16 is'shown in detail. More specifically, member 16 is comprised of a flaccid cable 28 which is preferably fabricated of a suitable metal or wound strands of metal and which has a lower end defining lower end 18 of resilient member 16 and an upper enddefining upper end 24 of the resilient member. Thus, lower end 18 of cable 28 is embedded within mounting block 20 and may be held thereas by a set screw 29. Upper end 24 of cable 28 is embedded within a lock engaging device 26 which shall be more completely de-' scribed hereinafter.

In accordance with the presently preferred embodiment of this invention, resilient member 16 further includes a resilient helically wound metallic spring 30 which is wound about cable 28 and extends from a lower end 32 fixed within mounting block 20 to an upper end 36 slidably positioned within a cylindrical aperture 38 within lock engaging device 26.

Preferably, spring end 36 normally extends only partly into aperture 38 so as to enable relative motion between the cableand the spring when member 16 is deformed (bent). If no clearance were provided, it would be extremely difficult to bend member 16.

Helically wound spring 30 is constructed preferably to assume a straight position absent external forces and, as mentioned above, may be bent in any direction from its normal staight position. It is desirable that the degree of resiliency of spring 30 be such as to always return cable 28 to a normally'straight position when all expected external forces have been withdrawn. Thus, when member 16 is mounted to a ski in the manner described above (FIG. 1), it will be normally upstanding due to the resiliency of spring 30. Even after being bent, it will return to a normal upstanding position (assuming no abnormally great force is encountered to bend member 16 past its elastic limit) As shown in FIG. 1, runaway binding assembly 15 further includes a locking member 40 which is preferabl y attached to the upper periphery of the ski boot by means of a belt 58 which is capable of adjustment to a desired circumferential extent. Locking member 40 may alternatively be mounted directly to the ski boot itself, thereby eliminating the need for belt 58 or may 1 be connected about the leg of a skier (shown in phantom) by means of belt 58.

- Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the preferred form of locking member 40 will now be described in detail. Locking member 40 includes a generally solid housing 42 having a pair of opposing parallel and planar upper and lower surfaces 44 and 46, respectively. Surfaces 44 and 46 both extend between a pair of opposing parallel and planar front and rear surfaces 48 and 50 and between a pair of opposing parallel and planar side. surfaces 52 and 54 (FIG. 3). The precise dimensions of locking member 40 are not critical. It is important,

however, that surfaces 44, 46, 52 and 54 be of sufficient elongate extent so as to be able to accommodate a substantial portion of locking engaging device 26 therein. The preferred manner in which device 26 is locked in locking member 40 is described below.

Locking member 40 preferably includes a transverse hole 56 extending through housing 42 between side surfaces 52 and 54, such hole being located adjacent rear surface 50. As best shown in FIG. 3, hole 56 is preferably used to connect the strap of belt 58 thereto, such as by riveting together one end of the belt and a portion of the belt near such end so as to form a loop in the belt at which point a buckle 59 may be positioned. It must be pointed out that hole 56 in locking member 40, although preferred when said member is to be belted about a ski boot or skiers leg, is not essential to this invention. For instance, and as indicated above,

looking member may be affixed directly to a ski slightly greater than the diameter of member 26 so that member 26 may be freely slidable in opening 60 in a direction along the axis of said opening, but yet be restrained from movement in directions oblique to said axis. Opening 60 is preferably located in a lower half segment of housing 42, which housing preferably has a depth approximately two and one-half times the diameter of lock engaging member 26 of member 16.

Lock-ing member 40 further includes another opening 62 which extends within housing 42 from upper surface 44 to a location adjacent and above opening 60. Opening 62 further extends from a forward position near front end 48 to a rearward position approximately about two-thirds of the distance from front end 48 to rear end of housing 42. The precise elongate extent of opening 62 in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of member 40 is not critical and the desired relationship between the length of opening 62 and that of opening will become apparent below. Housing 42 further includes a passage 64 communicating between opening 60 and 62. Passage 64 is preferably located at the rearward extent of opening 62. The precise purpose of opening 64 will be explained below.

.Before continuing with a description of locking member 40, lock engaging device 26 of resilient member 16 shall be described in detail. As stated above, it is the purpose of member 40 to lock upper end 24 of resilient member 16 so that when member 40 is coupled to' a skier, an unintentional release of a ski from the skier is.

prevented. With this in mind, lock engaging device 26,

mounted to end 24 of member 16, isspecifically structured to be locked in and then released from member 40.

Specifically, device 26 is substantially cylindrical conforming in shape to opening 60 of member 40 and being slightly less in diameter so as to permit the rela tive sliding between device 26 and member 40 within opening 60. Specifically, device 26 includes a head 76 which is preferably hemispherical in shape although other shapes that yield a-gradual increase in the diameter of head 76 will also suffice. Device 24 further includes an annular groove 74 adjacent head 76, the purpose of which shall be described below.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, housing 42 further includes a latch 66 mounted in opening 62 by means of a bolt 68 communicating through a pair of corresponding and aligned apertures (not shown) in housing 42 and latch 66. Latch 66 includes a depending pawl 72 extending throughpassage 64 into opening 60. ,The elongate extent of pawl 72 is such that, with latch 66 in its normal position (FIG. 4), the lower end of'pawl 72 will contact annular groove -74 of. lock engaging member 26 when member 26 is inserted in opening 60 with its head 76 abutting the surface 78 of housing 42. This, of course, locks device 24, and thus resilient member 16, within locking member 16. Paw] 72 is further shaped so that its front surface is at an angle to the vertical whereas the rear surface is: vertical so that head tion, upper surface 81 is preferably coplanar with upper surface 44 of housing 42, so that the boss is above the housing for ready manual access.

Latch 66 is biased to its normal position bya compression spring which has one'end abutting against the bottom of opening 62 and the other end abutting againstthe upper surface 73 in latch 66. Thus, compression spring 70 biases latch 66 clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 4, into its normal position.

Device 24 may be released from within housing 42 by exerting a downward force on boss 80 to pivot the latch counter-clockwise about bolt 68, thereby compressing spring 70 and lowering inclined portion 67 of the lower surface of latch 66 into abutment with the floor of opening 62. This correspondingly raises pawl 72 out of passage 64'thereby enabling member 26 to be slid out of opening 60 of housing 42.

The following dimensions are presently preferred for resilient member 16. The distance between head 76 of device 24 and lower surface 23 of mounting block 20 is about 13 inches. The length of cable 28 is approximately 12 inches and the length of opening 38 in device 24 is about threefourths inch. Further, the length of spring 30 when in its normal straight position (FIG. 2) is preferably approximately 11 inches. Lastly, end 36 of spring 30 preferably extends approximately oneeighth inch into opening 38 (when in its normal straight position) and one-fourth inch into mounting block 20.

A clearance of about five-eights inch between spring end 36 and the inward terminus of opening 38 has been found sufficient to enable a substantial bending of member 16, such as into a knot as shown in FIG. 5. The purpose of -knotting member 16 is to reduce its height in aid of tranporting the skis.

With regard to locking member 40, the distance between end surfaces 48 and 50 is preferably about lA 1% inches wherein the length of opening 60 is approximately 1 inch.

The above dimensions are those which have been found useful in connection with the presently preferred embodiment of this invention. Obviously, the dimen sions may vary depending upon such factors as whether the locking member is to be attached to the ski boot or skiers leg. If the latter, the dimensions of resilient member 16 are preferably increased. Other changes to the above stated dimensions are contemplated in this invention, such specific dimensions as given above being for purposes of example and not as limitations.

In operation, and with reference to the presently preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, a skier straps belt 58 about his boot or his leg with locking member 40 near the back thereof thereby firmly securing the ski boot to the ski. The skier then reaches down only far enough to grasp lock engaging device 26 of resilient member 16 which is normally upstanding. In accordance with the above dimensions, device 24 would be about a foot above the ground. With member 26 in the skiers hand he may then bend resilient member 16 into a position enabling him'to plug member 26 into locking member 40, (see dotted lines in FIG. 1

As device 26 is inserted in opening 60, and with latch 66 in its normal spring biased position with pawl 72 thereof inserted through passage 64 into opening 60, head 76 of device 26 will contact the slanted forward edge of pawl 72 as the member is inserted. By forcefully continuing the inward progression of device 26 into opening 60, pawl 72 is caused to ride up the convex surface of head 74 thereby overcoming the bias of spring 70 and causing the latch to pivot counterclockwise about bolt 68, as viewed in FIG. 4. As soon as head 76 is brought into contact with surface 78, however, pawl 72 will slip back through passage 64 and against annular groove 74 of device 26 thereby restraining the outward movement of said device from opening 60. As stated above, device 26 may be released by pushing down on boss 80 thereby manually overcoming the bias of spring 70 to pivot the pawl counterclockwise about bolt 68. Device 26 may then be slipped out of hole 60, unobstructed by pawl 72., to remove device 26 from locking member 40. Once device 26 is removed from locking member 40 and the skier lets go of it, the inherent resiliency of member 16 automatically returns to an upright position so that the process may be again repeated at a later time.

With lock engaging device 26 of resilient member 16 locked in locking member 40, the ski is prevented from running away from the skier in the event the ski boot is released from the main ski binding due to a fall. During such release, member 16 is capable of bending in any direction thereby allowing the free relative move-' ment between the released ski and ski boot, such movement being restrained only in a direction tending to separate the ski from the skier a distance greater than the length of member 16.

The great flexibility of member 16 may also be used to advantage by tying said member in a knot thereby decreasing the height thereofto facilitate transportation of the ski from location to location. An example of the condition of member 16 when tied in such a manner is shown in FIG. 5. It is to be recalled that sufficient clearance exists between end 36 of spring 30 and the inward terminus of aperture 38 thereby premitting expansion of the spring as member 16 is so knotted.

Transportation of the ski may also be aided by bending member 16 into a position substantially parallel to and closely adjacent the ski and then locking the member in said position by a latch mounted on the ski.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a presently preferred embodiment, the invention is not limited to such embodiment. Rather, the invention is deemed to include obvious modifications and alterations of the preferred embodiment shown and described herein For example, resilient member 16 need. not be mounted to ski 10 at the position shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, member 16 may be mounted directly to the main binding at either toe piece 12 or heel piece 14. Further, resilient member 16 need not be formed by positioning a flexible, flaccid cable through a resilient helically wound spring. Rather, the resilient member may be'defined as a single piece. Also, the particular locking arrangement of member 16 is only exemplary. Thus, if a single piece were used as the resilient member, any locking assembly for holding fast an upper end thereof and for selectively releasing same could be used. A locking engaging device, such as device 26, need not be included in such a system.

Other modifications and alterations of the preferred embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

What I'claim is: Y

1. Arunaway device for preventing inadvertent complete disengagement of a ski from a skier, said device comprising:

a. an elongated member that is deformable in a plurality of directions from a normal position and is resiliently restorable from said deformed condition to said normal position, said elongated member comprising a flaccid cable having opposing ends defining the opposing ends of said member and a resilient helically wound spring which is wound about said cable, said spring means restoring the cable to a normally substantially straight position from a deformed position;

b. means for operatively securing one end of saidelongated member to a ski so that said elongated member is normally upstanding from said ski;

c. a locking member and means for securing said locking member to a skier; and

d. a lock engaging device mounted on the other end of said cable for releasable engagement with said locking member to releasably lock the other end of said elongated member to said locking member.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said means for securing said locking means to a skier comprises a strap for securing said locking means to a skier or a ski boot. l 

1. A runaway device for preventing inadvertent complete disengagement of a ski from a skier, said device comprising: a. an elongated member that is deformable in a plurality of directions from a normal position and is resiliently restorable from said deformed condition to said normal position, said elongated member comprising a flaccid cable having opposing ends defining the opposing ends of said member and a resilient helically wound spring which is wound about said cable, said spring means restoring the cable to a normally substantially straight position from a deformed position; b. means for operatively securing one end of said elongated member to a ski so that said elongated member is normally upstanding from said ski; c. a locking member and means for securing said locking member to a skier; and d. a lock engaging device mounted on the other end of said cable for releasable engagement with said locking member to releasably lock the other end of said elongated member to said locking member.
 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said means for securing said locking means to a skier comprises a strap for securing said locking means to a skier or a ski boot. 